Working Together
by Liberty Roth
Summary: Mac wants to stop being paired with Weevil by Veronica, because their awkward silences are a little too awkward for her taste. Weevil wants to keep being paired with Mac because... well, it's Mac. Can they both get their way? Mac/Weevil.


Veronica had been busy working on a term paper when Mac had burst into the dorm room. The girl with the multicolored hair (a bright green this time) didn't even offer a 'hi' as she swiftly crossed the room to the blonde. "I need to stop being paired with Weevil on your little…" she struggled for words briefly, glancing towards the ceiling. "Detective outings. Okay?"

"Uh, hey, Mac, nice to see you, too," Veronica managed, swiveling her desk chair away from the glowing computer screen. "I had a great day, thanks for asking. How was yours?"

"Sorry. Hey, I'm glad your day was great. Mine was fine. I fixed my English professor's laptop so she rewarded me with ten bonus points. I need to be paired with someone else," she blurted out quickly. "Please, Veronica, I want to work with someone else."

Veronica's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she sucked on the end of a pen. "Huh. You didn't have a problem with Weevil before. Can I ask what brought this on? I thought you two were getting along. Logan seems to think that you've been getting _on _instead of _along_, but I don't really know what to make of his opinions anymore."

Mac hesitated, unsure of what she should tell Veronica. Things _had _been okay with Eli before… they had been getting along just fine and dandy. Until the night that Weevil had shown up very drunk. He had been good at hiding it when he was rendezvousing with Veronica and getting pumped full of case information.

* * *

_She _had noticed, though. Especially as they walked towards his car and he stumbled on a curb. "Hey, hey," she said, grabbing a fistful of his leather jacket to stop him from smashing into the sidewalk. "Gimme your keys, okay?"

He leered at her, fishing around his jeans pocket for his keys. A few seconds later, he extracted them and dangled them above her head. "_These _keys? Whaddyou need them for? You driving?"

She scowled at him, wondering if it was too late to flag down Veronica and demand that they dump Weevil somewhere and go on without him. But the rest of the 'team' members were already gone, heading to the location they were supposed to meet at. It figured. Mac jumped upward slightly, trying to grab the keys that he kept out of her reach. "Yeah, I'm driving. There's no way you're going to drive me. I don't want to die right now, thanks." Dying. God, that brought back memories of…

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry," Weevil's voice was soft, his hot breath spreading over her face. He smelled like alcohol – what kind, she couldn't identify. But it was definitely strong. He touched her chin gently, lifting it up towards him as he pressed his keys into her palm. "Didn't mean to hurt you, baby. Never do."

She looked at him in surprise as she helped lower him into the passenger seat. "What are you talking about?" she questioned, handing him the seatbelt. She wasn't going to buckle it for him… even she had her limits. Mostly, her limits involved staying away from his crotch.

He waited until she was behind the wheel to answer her. "Sometimes I end up menshioning… mensaning…" he took a breath. "_Mentioning_ something that happened back in high school and you…"

Yeah. She understood what he meant. Sometimes she'd walk in on the rest of her friends talking about Cassidy or some kid that had died on the bus crash. Once, she had even gotten a letter in the mail about the third anniversary of the bus crash and _would she like to donate to construct a permanent memorial? _That letter had to be pried from he r hands by Eli, because time had frozen as she read the tiny black letters that seemed to be shrinking and darkening simultaneously.

"Got it," she grunted, reaching under the seat to try and find the lever that would help her move the seat forward. She could reach the pedals, but her sneakers just barely brushed them. "How do you move this thing up?"

"Here, allow Papi," he said. For a drunken man, his movements were very fluid and almost graceful in his car. He managed to unbuckle his seatbelt, throw it over his shoulder, and reach over between her ankles. He roughly pulled a lever beneath her seat, before signaling that she should pull herself forward.

"I've got it covered," she assured him, hoping he wouldn't see the sudden flush on her cheeks. There was no way she was going to slide forward while they were so close. His hand was… well, _between her legs_, technically. His face was very close to her upper arm and shoulder as he leaned over to help her, with more of his breath going over her skin. Mac barely suppressed a shiver, reaching down to touch the lever he was holding. "Really, I've got it."

His warm fingers trailed over her smooth knuckles as he pulled away from the lever, retreating back to his seat. "Right," he said, buckling himself back up. He kept his face forward, his tone almost as icy as the air outside of the car. "I was just trying to help."

"I told you it was fine," she said, adjusting her rearview mirror before _finally _starting the car. She was nervous about driving his car. She knew how much he loved it, how much time and devotion he poured into keeping it into top condition. Once he had gotten mad at her because she had leaned against the hood… Mac couldn't believe he was letting her drive it. "I… I'm sorry, I just… I'm not used to having boys that close to me." Hey, he was _drunk. _He wasn't going to remember this. A little confessional time with someone besides Veronica would be good. That girl was hard to catch alone, with Logan hanging around all the time.

"I could help you with that, you know," he said after a moment, pressing his lips together as he stayed facing forward.

She stared at him, her hand on the shifter in his car. "What are you talking about? I think you need to go back to your place and sleep off your craziness."

He caught her hand off of the shifter, holding it in his large and warm one. "If you come with me," he said softly, pressing her palm against his lips. Slowly (she thought his slow movement was for her benefit) he leaned in towards her until his seatbelt stopped him. "Damn this thing."

Eli pressed an index finger against the release button, freeing himself of the restraint. Mac was frozen as he continued to lean towards her, his hand on her knee. "Don't," she managed to say before he crushed his warm lips to hers. Her plea was entirely forgotten as she melted against his warm touch. It was nothing like any other kiss she had come into contact with before.

Before, she had been trying to get away from him. Now, though, it seemed like she couldn't get enough with him. For being dead below the waist, she sure was feeling… _flushed_. "You," he said between kissing her, his lips trailing down her neck. "Just – need – a guy – you're friends – with – first…"

She paused, panting slightly. "Like you?" she said, tilting her head back so he could kiss her throat. God, this felt good. His hands were starting to drift upward from her knees, roaming over her hips. They were something she had always been self-conscious about, but right now Mac couldn't care less about the curves on her body. It seemed like _he _loved them, so she could appreciate them a little more now.

"I'm here, I'm your friend, so why not?" he questioned, his words slurring a little bit. "Gotta say, Mac, I never-"

He broke off, both of them jumping at the sound of her cell phone ringing loudly. One of the theme music pieces from _Star Wars _was swelling from the small black square. Mac's hand shot out toward it, but Eli was quicker. "Hello?" he said into the phone. She marveled at his ability to sound normal, despite what they had been doing moments before. "It's Weevil, who do you think it is? Nah. We got held up by some traffic. You think I'm lying? It's called emergency vehicles, V. We're coming. Hold on. Yeah. Bye."

Mac stared at him, unable to believe that someone who had been slurring his words a moment ago could be speaking that clearly. But evidently Eli was just… good at-

"Drive," he said after a moment, breaking her concentration. The order came out surprisingly steely.

"Okay," she managed to get out, flicking on the headlights and putting the car into drive. Vaguely, as she drove, she realized her mouth tasted strange. Her tongue tentatively touched the back of her teeth. It was alcohol. He had left her tasting like alcohol.

* * *

After that night, things had been… strange. She couldn't tell Veronica what had happened, though, since she was the only one who knew. Well, besides Weevil, of course. Evidently he only had bits of memory, though, since it looked like he didn't know what _exactly _had happened. He had an inkling, though, because he kept quiet and awkward from there on out.

So Mac lied.

"He always hits on me," she said finally.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "He hits on every girl, don't worry. He's harmless. It's kind of like his way of saying 'hi.' It goes away over time. Plus, carrying that taser I got you and pulling it out for him could be taken as incentive to get away."

Mac sat down on Veronica's bed, frowning. "Look, okay, I really… I just want to be partnered with someone else from now on, if that's okay. Weevil's a… nice guy, but I just want to be with someone else."

Veronica opened her mouth to protest (or maybe to get more details, she wasn't sure) but Mac held up a hand. "Please, Veronica. In high school I did favors for you without asking. I _still _do favors for you without asking too many details. Could you do this for me one time?"

The blonde had pressed her lips together, but said nothing more than, 'okay.'

* * *

"So what'd you do to piss off Veronica?" Logan finally asked, tired of the silence that had fallen over himself and Weevil. Not really _silence, _exactly, since their rustling food wrappers provided white noise.

Eli looked over from his double cheeseburger, glad that going on a stakeout had some food involved. It wasn't exactly steak, but it was meat nevertheless. "What are you talking about, man? I didn't do anything to her."

Logan laughed slightly, tilting his Big Gulp towards Veronica's car. It was parked a few blocks away, though he could still see it. "Sure you did. Why else would she stick you with me? We're not enemies anymore, but we're not exactly BFF Jills."

"I didn't do anything to her," he said, shaking his head as he set his own drink into the cup holder in Logan's vehicle.

Logan studied him for a minute, before shrugging as he continued to slurp his drink. "Well, then you made Mac mad. Mac went to Veronica. Mac told Veronica to stop partnering you up. Veronica stopped partnering you up. Now you and I get to hang out on these long and lovely trips of ours. I'm really appreciating the 'get to know you' time. I'm telling you. Fix this, alright? Because when nothing was happening, Veronica and I made out. Now? _Now_ I get to eat some lovely cheeseburgers while talking to you."

Weevil shrugged, biting into his burger. "Believe me, I'm workin' on it."

* * *

Veronica had been busy working on _another_ paper when Weevil had burst into her dorm room. Faintly, she had a sense of déjà vu. "I need you to put me back together with Mac on your little stakeout things."

The blonde turned around, biting her lip. "What _is it _with people demanding favors without asking me how I am first? Is there a campus memo going around? Did I not get the e-mail? God, I'm so behind on times. Do you think you could give me an update?"

He scowled at her. "Ha, ha, funny. So, V, are you going to help me here?"

She pursed her lips, faintly tapping her index finger against her mouth. "Hmm. To be nice or not to be nice… Okay, I'll admit it, I'm curious. I'll put you back with Mac. But," she said sharply, when he had started to smile. "But you have to tell me what you did to her."

Weevil frowned at her. "That's low, Veronica. Even for you."

A smile stretched across her features. "I'm glad you think I'm low. Have fun staking out with my boyfriend."

Standing, he pressed his fingers together at the bridge of his nose. "Okay, okay," he said, pacing slightly by her bed.

"So, c'mon, _fess _up," Veronica said, the picture of a cat who was now dining on a canary. "What'd you do to dearest Miss Mackenzie? Hit on her one too many times? Slip her some vodka in her Big Gulp?"

"I might've… pretended to be drunk."

Veronica looked surprised, which he was kind of proud about. It was hard to surprise her. "Wow. So what did you say to her while you were infauxicated?"

He couldn't exactly remember passing many words… Some spit, yes, but not many words. "I didn't say much. We… I kissed her."

She pursed her lips again, eyebrows tilting downward. "Huh. Was this like… a kiss you get on the cheek from an eighty-year-old family member? Or a tonsil hockey makeout session, Weevs?" Veronica didn't look surprised anymore… more like she already knew everything and wanted to hear his side.

"The latter, okay?" he said finally. "Did you already know all this? Why do you look like that? Did she tell you?"

"And she doesn't know you were fake drunk?" she asked, ignoring him completely. At least for a moment, that was. "She didn't tell me. Mac wouldn't ever betray anyone like that. I know it because you guys were in range of my binoculars. I'd be careful where you make out from now on."

He frowned. So did that mean Logan knew about it, too? Maybe Veronica hadn't passed him the binoculars, though... "No, she doesn't know. Not unless you tell her."

"I'll give you a week to tell her. Thursday, Logan and I are going with Parker and her current boyfriend to the movies. Mac'll be alone in her room. Apologize then, alright? I'm not going to put you back in a car with her until she knows the truth."

"So, wait. I came in here to get you to put me back with her and… I ended up telling you my third darkest and deepest secret only for you to tell me that you're not going to do what I want you to do? I think I got screwed."

"I'm going to have to agree," Veronica said, smiling at the lines of irritation that appeared upon his face. "Next time, try withholding your information for a better deal."

* * *

Mac wasn't very happy when he finally told her. Veronica, Logan, Parker, and her boyfriend had all gone to the movies as promised. Mac had wanted to stay behind, not really looking to being a fifth wheel on their dates. Instead, Weevil got to go and crush her. Great.

She sat there for a moment, stunned as she sat on her bed. Finally, she looked up at him. "So you weren't drunk at all? And then _you _had the nerve to act that way towards me?" Mac questioned, anger flaring up onto her face.

He looked down at his hands, shrugging as he spoke quietly. "I was mad."

"At _me_? What did I do to you to make you think it was okay to kiss me like that when you weren't under the influence?" she paused. "That came out… wrong. You know what I mean. You lied. I thought you were drunk and didn't remember anything. Turns out you were sober _and _remember everything? Were you going to blackmail me or something? What were you doing?"

"No, no, I wasn't mad at _you. _I was mad at myself. I couldn't believe that I had kissed you," She started to look offended, so he put his hands up. "No, I mean. I couldn't believe that I let myself kiss you. It was supposed to be a joke, you know? I'd say something and then you'd say something and it was supposed to be funny. I don't know what I was thinking."

She frowned, biting her lip for a moment. "You're lying."

He looked like he was about to protest, before shrugging. "Yeah, I am."

"So why'd you really do it?"

Weevil looked over his shoulder, making sure that they were really alone and her roommate hadn't walked in unnoticed. "Okay, but you have to promise not to tell Veronica. She knows enough as it is."

"_Veronica _knows about this? You told her?"

Great, great. Could he say anything that wasn't wrong and digging him a deeper gave? "Hey, I only told her so that she'd put me and you back in the same car. You know how it is with her. If she wants to know something, she'll make you tell her."

"Yeah, I know," Mac said, sighing as she seemed to loosen up a little bit. "She is like that. You never told me why you did it. Don't try to stray from the subject. I'll get back to it no matter what. So. I believe you owe me one explanation."

He scowled. "Could I… could I show you? I know that sounds weird and – "

"Sleazy," she supplied bluntly. "It sounds sleazy."

"Yeah," he said, rolling his eyes. "Sleazy. Okay. Could I show you or not? You gonna make me struggle through this some more? Is that what you want?"

"I just want an explanation. Get talking before I make you leave," Mac said, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned towards him.

"I'd like to see you make me leave," He laughed, reaching for her hands. He uncrossed her arms slowly, leaning in to gently touch his lips to hers. It was different from the one in the car… less heat, more apology. "This. I was hoping to make a drunken confession and get one in return."

She pulled away from him, frowning. "I wasn't drunk. You wouldn't really get a drunken confession since I wasn't-"

_Now _the apology was gone from his kiss. In its place was irritation and raw emotion. "Do you _ever _stop thinking?" he questioned, his hands moving from her wrists to touch down upon her hips. "You know what I meant, so stop pointing out details to me."

She considered being angry at him still. She really did. She considered standing and slapping him and telling him to get out before she called some buff boys to come and kick him out for her. But then a soft voice in her mind pointed out that he had apologized. Sort of. And his intentions were sweet enough, the voice told her.

The voice also told her to shut up and kiss him.

Mac listened.

* * *

This is the first time I've ever written anything Veronica Mars. I haven't finished the rest of the third season, either... So forgive any details that are wrong. Expect more VM fanfiction on the way, I love it too much to leave it alone.


End file.
